Keyboard Jun '84 | Turmoil in MIDI land, and isn't pretty
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- Опубліковано 5 тра 2024
- Not everyone was happy with how MIDI came by and what it became. Many well known people (today) were pretty harsh with how Sequential and the 4 Japanese companies set the standards. The nay-sayers were quite moronic though. They had their chance to be part of the gang, but they bottled it for themselves.
Back in 1983 the MIDI spec page was 10 pages long, but it expanded rapidly. As it was "open source", every manufacturer could implement it as they saw fit and that caused all kinds of problems.
New tech and techniques have always polarized opinion and most people fear new things. Today the rise of AI is such a thing. Some people go bat shit crazy over it, while other's embrace it. Some just ignores it as well. No right or wrong. It all depends on where you're at I guess.
I was involved in one of 'Keyboard Mag' issues, though I'm not sure which one. I developed a semantic cataloging system for Atari that allowed you to save MIDI, AIFF, and later WAV files in the early '90s. I believe Oberheim acquired it. The system, which I programmed in Sweden while working for the Swedish military, was top-notch. It allowed for semantic storage of large databases and could intelligently catalog the contents of MIDI files, including system exclusive data and more. I was also an early beta tester for Cubase in the mid-'80s, using it to record intros for some hard rock bands. After a 30-year hiatus due to a parasitic infection that affected my ability to play music, I started re-recording some of my 800+ tracks in 2022. Unfortunately, I suffered a stroke in December 2022 and spent the next 15 months recovering. Now, I'm back to recording and releasing music more prolifically than ever. I've had to shut down all my businesses and am currently waiting for medical approval for my pension. But I'm still releasing music like never before! - I really enjoy your videos and reckognize most of what you do :)
Thanks for sharing your story. Very interesting. Happy to hear you're back on track (pun intended) as well. Cheers! :)
@@EspenKraft Thanks man :)
I love how Will Alexander said in 1984, "They're going to have to do a lot of revisions, of course." And here we are no fewer than 40 years later still using MIDI 1.0 and it works. 🤣
Midi 1.0 works good enough for me thanks. :P
@@EspenKraft Me too. 👍🏻
MIDI IS THE BEST innovation keyboard players ever got. AAA
MIDI saved my life 🙂
I'm just old enough to have had a front seat to all this MIDI turmoil, my dad purchased the first Yamaha DX-7 in the Southern Hemisphere (Richard Claydman leased it touring for a while), and a few years later I was somehow gifted this righteous kit. Around the same time his trumpet player clearly demonstrated an Apple II with a serial to MIDI homebrew config, he also wrote the Trumpet Winsock and was the first ISP on my island (a clever fella). I feel like I accidentally lived next door to this cool era without knowing at the time. $0.02
Thank you for this new keyboard reading/browsing . It is always a beautiful interesting experience and nice to have you view on them. You have a knack to bringing us back to the past Marty Kraft ! The great nostalgia journey. it reminds me of many dreams and cravings ( for synths mainly) I had when I was reading those magazines. Thanx again Epen. As far as I'm concerned, there will never be enough of those reviews. I'm already re-watching, the previous ones you made , in a loop . Great Idea!
Many thanks! I plan to do more. ;-)
It's funny to think that MIDI and the DX 7 were big at the same time that the Apple II was still a popular computer. The evolution of keyboards and the evolution of computers happened at the same time, and complimented each other. For those of us with 4 track cassette studios, MIDI was a game changer. I used an Alesis MMT-8 sequencer to put down time code on one of the four tracks, and the sequencer drove my Yamaha TX81Z, Yamaha DX 21, and Alesis HR 16 drum machine, along with three tracks of audio - usually guitar, vocals, and backing vocals/guitar solo. The final mix sounded like 16 tracks. All because of MIDI. I agree that the nay-sayers were morons - how could they not see the potential? Great video, as always.
I also bought all those magazines since I was 12 years old ... Later I bought my Oberheim Xpander from the classified section of that magazine in 1992.
Shit those old Keyboard magazines are like vintage Playboy magazines now.
That so fun; I really enjoyed nerding out to this. I was 19 in 1984 and had spent much of my first year of engineering school listening to Pat Metheny (and Lyle Mays on keys), Jean-Luc Ponty, Allan Holdsworth, Rush, Yes, Genesis, ELP, John McLaughlin, and many other bands. I remember Jean-Luc Ponty saying in concert in late 1983 "thanks to the miracles of modern synthesizer technology, I can play for you now that which I did in the studio a few months ago." It was one of the songs from Individual Choice, but the actual title escapes me; maybe "Computer Incantations for World Peace." The MIDI standard history reminds me a bit of Betamax vs VHS. Betamax was a better format but VHS won the competition for home video recorder-players.
VHS won because Sony in usual Sony fashion didn't want to license out their tech (Beta) to other manufacturers. JVC did. ;-)
Haha! We’re exactly the same age, listened to exactly the same music and saw the same JLP concert tour.
I still have that issue. Another trip down Memory Lane.
Also, the first KB issue I every bought - Dec 1978 - had the late, great Richard Tandy of ELO on the cover. Coincidentally, the music store where I had bought it (Sam Ash) announced closure of all their stores the same day Richard’s passing was announced. RIP to both.
What an exciting time.
All the midi stuff was the boring part though. I learned just as much as I had to for basic controllers of rack gears and live preset changes.
yey! i don't have this issue of Keyboard magazine. Much appreciated content, thank you Espen
Cheers!
wow! My first synth and midi controller for propellerhead reason in 2004 was Roland Jx3P ,and i was blown away when i did research on it and it said it was one of rolands first midi capable keyboards from84 !
Ha. "Capable". At least it was a start.👍
It's from 1983. It was possibly their first MIDI synth.
@@80ssynthfan48 yeah, I agree it seems pretty early. You have to do this stupid midi lead reverse plug-in thing when powering on. Can’t quite remember the details 👍
Among the very first MIDI Synth pool was the Prophet 600 by Sequential Circuits
Emu-Systems really wanted to go down the parallel RS232 interface route as it was faster but it had a very limited set of commands in the Emulator 1/AVI. They quickly went with MIDI. Roland had obviously invested more in DCB but were quick to bin it and went for MIDI hardware sequencers they we all love! All credit to Dave Smith.
RS-232 is a serial interface.
There used to be Sam Ash music store ads in Keyboard. They just shut down all their stores, yesterday. Sad. I bought my Korg M1 and Yamaha KX88 from them back in ‘88.
YAAAAY! was wondering when espen would let us go thru the magazine again!!
3:23 I love Sean Hopper! Have one of his D550s and his Korg Trinity Pro w/MOSS.
EXPANDER what superb synth 🫶🏻
Another UA-camr has recently maligned the Xpander and claimed it’s not worth spending lots of money on. Something about how other instruments have been designed that more easily execute what it’s designed to do. Even if everything is overpriced on the vintage market today, I still wish I could get my hands on this thing for myself..
The Xpander, and even more so, the Matrix-12 are fantastic synths. Totally not worth the money the command now, but if money is no issue then they're very near the top in terms of features and sound.
IMO one of the best ever, along with its bigger brother, the Matrix 12 (love the whole Matrix series).
The thing that has bugged me since the dawn of MIDI is step sequencers that fail to transpose to incoming MIDI notes e.g. Roland Boutique JP-08. I realize that historically CV step sequencers weren't themselves actually doing the transposing but so much step sequenced music depended on transposition (e.g. Équinoxe VI by Jean-Michel Jarre) that I am astounded that digital step sequencers still omit such a fundamental feature. Arturia recently got the message and I wish others would too.
Interesting quote at the top of the page opposite the Wersi ad. It seems that some manufacturers felt that bread-and-butter gigging musicians weren't worth bothering about when it came to implementing something that might make people's lives easier. Everything feels more like a community today with everybody from the casual hobbyist to the seasoned pro catered for (and very well catered for at that!) but I'd be interested to know how much of that is just skin deep - how much of that attitude, if any, still persists?
Mr Kraft. I love MIDI since 1991 when I was introduced to it. I still use the same computer from 25 years ago which controls all my MIDI. My question is, do you see a comeback of MIDI implementation during the recent years or a steady use of MIDI. The way I see it is, great MIDI sequences were done in the early days that would take maximum advantage of the gear. Am talking about GM then the rise of GS and XG. Later it seemed to go down by introducing XG lite and GM2 making some keyboards still being somewhat compatible. Today MIDI2.0 shows a come back by adding MIDI to every parameter and the ability to record it in a sequence.. I would be very happy if someone came up with a pumped up MIDI module like the 90s. I would call it the GS SC88Max or the XG MU100Max too... couldn't think of a name for the XG. 😂 what is your opinion on this view? Cheers 🍻
I've have no particular interest in either Midi 2.0 or any pumped up GM standard as such. I will keep some selected pieces of vintage hardware where Midi 1.0 works just fine for my needs and beside that I will use plugins with not much need for anything else than that they start up. ;-) Cheers
Espen your puppy is adorable! And about the AI. I personally think a lot of this technology has been around for a while, just rebranded as AI. I saw a video on a rice cooker and how it was branded as (AI innovation) although it had the exact same components as any other rice cooker from the last 20 years. I also do drawing and digital painting as a hobby and was scared about Mid Journey. Although I think AI art is generic, bland, un original and will never replace the creativity of human beings. The problem I think is mega corporations replacing artists and jobs for crappy AI art. I did see an AI DAW and how it can create chords, and how you can tweak the piano roll notes up a couple octaves or in a different scale, creating something new from the AI DAW if you can't think of anything. I know a lot of people were scared when the Fairlight CMI came out. I think that part of AI is good for helping along with the artist to work faster, as long is the AI model isn't directly stealing from a particular source. For me personally, I find computers to distracting. Im looking to buy a Tascam portastudio and a Yamaha QX1 sequencer to go screenless. I find myself in Logic Pro composing one minute, then I find myself watching a whole hour long youtube documentary getting nothing done(ADHD). I will still use my computer, I just find it good to take a break from the computer screens. Love your videos!
Cheers man! :)
The Voyetra Eight is a MIDI module. The companion controller could also control other modules. Same goes for the monophonic Voyetra One and its own controller. The K250 is also MIDI capable.
My comments to these ads were irony as the topic and talk of the town was MIDI. ;-)
Hi Espen..I would like to read some articles of this magazine.
Is possible have the PDF for download..?
Thanks✌🏻
Like I said. Send me an email.
so funny to think of the arguments to use an existing computer standard like s100 instead. turns out MIDI outlasted everything!
and Voyetra was right...to this day those other two pins were never used, we could have avoided 5-pin this whole time!
I have half of that Casio organ. No midi.
Когда я был мелким пацаном ходил в школу в подмосковье я только помню что у кого был компьютер тот был крутой причем это был zx spectrum или позже intel 166mgz однажды я у друга увидел синтезатор у него родители богатые были звуковаясистема стояла на колонках s90...Ну я такой это что такое за пианино,а он мне говорит это синтезатор,а синтезатор там был Casio любительский самоиграйка для детей и я помню это было ощущение вау что коробочка сама ритм играет я тогда даже слова ритм не знал учился в школе в начальных классах .Такое ощущение что весь самый Бум техники мы в России пропустили ,ну может быть очень богатые люди из столицы что то видели а мы даже не подозревали что есть синтезаторы даже что Русские синтезаторы есть и целые заводы по их производству мы тоже не знали.Меньше знаешь крепче спишь ,теперь у меня такое чувство что мы все профилонили ))Мой дед был музыкант он играл в оркестре на трубе а дома на пианино и гармони) Я весь в деда по музыкальным способностям )) И мне интересны твои видео и исторические инструменты
I will go to my grave with the opinion that MIDI is one of the greatest inventions of all time.
Amen brother
Dave Smith didn't invent MIDI - even if they gave him a Grammy for it in 2014. MIDI was completely based on Roland's DCB interface. They have the same note on/off messages and program changes, and they both run on a 32kbps async serial bus. But DCB only has filter CC control. MIDI is basically DCB with a different connector and more CCs.
Dave Smith was supposed to get US manufacturers on-board, and he failed. Roland got ALL the Japanese synth manufacturers on-board, and Dave Smith couldn't get ANY of the US manufacturers. The only thing he succeeded at was getting Roland to give away DCB for free.
But think about why Dave Smith was unable or unwilling to get Moog/Oberheim/E-Mu on-board. At the time, Sequential was literally stealing designs from E-Mu and not paying royalties. Objectively speaking, Dave Smith clearly didn't care about other manufacturers. I'm sure he thought he would sell a lot of Prophets if they were the only thing that worked with Roland/Korg/Yamaha/Kawai gear.
For context: When Sequential made the Prophet, E-Mu developed the scanning polyphonic keyboard for them, Dave Smith designed the patch memory, and Dave Rossum (at E-Mu) designed the actual analog synth. Sequential was paying about 3% royalties to E-Mu. That was too much for Dave Smith, so he stopped paying. I think eventually they tried to sue but then Sequential switched the filters on the Rev3 (and also went bankrupt).
Point being, Marco Alpert and Dave Rossum at E-Mu probably didn't want to talk to Dave Smith about MIDI.
12:31 Look at that article! Dave Smith says, "We lost interest in trying to round everyone up." Nice. Dave must've felt like he was on top of the world when he flew to Japan and got to be the only synth manufacturer outside of Japan with insider information on what would be the standard for all synths. Why bother discussing the concerns of E-Mu/Oberheim and trying to improve it?
I think you're mixing up your own feelings (for whatever reasons) and facts here. ;-)
MIDI would be like the invention of bow and arrows , AI is the atomic bomb .
I do NOT like or use MIDI.
If you’re using USB, you are using MIDI. It just has a different plug shape.
Same here. CV/Gate and analogue clocks are so much better. Tight, solid. For years ⏰
@@Shred_The_Weapon I do not. I play everything by hand.
@@wackerburg If you say so.
I play with my hands.
Yes..when I use modulars I prefer CV...and Sync for tempo.
But with a normal keyboard synth..
the midi with it's CC..and SysEx..
is wonderful..😅